Smartphone-driven sales to grow to 40 million by 2016: ASSOCHAM-Grant Thornton study

NEW DELHI: Mobile phones-driven purchases in India are steadily growing, and is likely to touch 40 million by 2016 from the current 30 million, a joint finding by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Grant Thornton revealed.

The study points out that in the next three years, an additional 200 million Indians will access the Internet, led by smartphone users, ASSOCHAM said in a statement on Monday.

Online travel accounts for nearly 71% of the e-Commerce business in India. This business has grown at a CAGR of 32% between 2009 and 2013. E-tailing, on the other hand, accounts for only 8.7% of organized retail and a minuscule 0.3% of total retail sales.

The number of users making online transactions has also grown exponentially, and it is expected to increase from 11 million in 2011 to 38 million in 2015.

The report also said that the government's plan to rebuild and modernize the Indian postal infrastructure and Digital India initiative will also affect the e-Commerce sector.

With the growing number of smartphone users and major e-Commerce players, number of users relying on App-based platforms will eventually increase in the near future, the joint study noted.